2LT Jason Kim
6th Platoon Leader -US Army
Jason Kim began studying Taekwondo
at the age of five when his parents enrolled him at the Oriental
Moo-Do School (OMS) in Artesia, California, early 1986. He described
his training at OMS as one of an atmosphere filled with discipline,
respect, and dedication to hard work. He feared Grand Master Kim
for his stern and demanding teaching methods yet at the same time
began to realize the benefits of such training. Self-discipline,
positive attitude, physical and mental integrity were some of the
traits that Jason learned value. Throughout his early years at OMS
Jason was interested in the self-defense and traditional aspects
of the Art, however, this slowly changed over to modern-day Kyoroogi
as Taekwondo became increasingly popular at the competitive levels.
Earning his Black Belt at age 13, Jason began to
take part in numerous tournaments, placing first in the Junior Olympics
in Taekwondo that same year. Throughout junior high and high school
Jason dedicated as much time as he could to continue his training
at OMS. OMS had moved from Artesia to Cerritos, and with the new
location came the loss of several “Old School” students
as well as the restructuring of many of the classes. At the same
time, Jason was highly dedicated with his academic and athletic
commitments in high school, and was not able to pursue his training
as thoroughly as he wished.
In the Fall of his junior year, Jason accepted
an early offer of admission to the U.S. Military Academy at West
Point, turning down offers from the University of California Berkeley
and Los Angeles. Always driven by the idea that serving others is
the most honorable profession, Jason graduated Cypress High School
with high honors in 1999 and reported to West Point shortly thereafter.
Throughout his four years at West Point Jason stated that the training
he had received from OMS was the one single factor that gave him
not only the mental and physical ability to succeed but also place
him ahead of his peers during times of rigorous training.
He succeeded both physically and
academically at West Point, placing on the Dean’s list each
year and receiving numerous honors for his research, project work,
and leadership in engineering societies (ACM, IEEE) from the Electrical
Engineering/Computer Science Department. His academic contributions
and leadership as President of the IEEE student chapter is another
story, but more suited is his success with the Taekwondo program.
From his freshman year to his senior year, Jason, along with the
help of his dedicated classmate and fellow Taekwondo Black Belt
Richard Watt, began the Army Taekwondo program at West Point.
During that time, West Point did not have a competitive
Taekwondo team but only Karate and Judo teams. The Taekwondo team
began as an informal group of cadets who practiced several times
throughout the week in Arvin Gymnasium led by Jason and Richard.
Jason stated that getting support and becoming recognized as an
official Academy Team was one of the most challenging, strenuous,
and often times frustrating struggle he had ever faced. The political
red tape, conservative attitude of the physical education department,
and the relatively new idea of competition Taekwondo as opposed
to Karate and Judo that had been around for decades were some of
the challenges that faced Jason.
 However,
the long struggle came to an end at the start of his junior year,
when the team’s successes at several collegiate tournaments
were so impressive that the Academy decided to sponsor the team
officially as a club sport. The advisor to the team, Sergeant First-Class
James Ruesch, was a dedicated mentor who truly loved Taekwondo but
more so recognized the struggle and endeavor of a group of highly
dedicated cadets. With his assistance, the team was able to convince
Grand Master Jiho Choi to serve as head coach of the official Army
Taekwondo Team at West Point. At that time, Grand Master Choi was
also the coach of Princeton University’s Taekwondo Team.  This
dual-role would prove highly beneficial to both teams and create
a lasting friendship between the two teams as well as the two highly
prestigious institutions in the years to come.
With official support and a skilled
head coach, the team, in less than three years since being official,
ranked fourth out of 36 schools in the Ivy/Northeast Collegiate
Taekwondo League, defeating time-honored and record holding schools
such as Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, and
Princeton and Harvard Universities. Jason and Richard both competed
at the welterweight levels, as well as in national and international
tournaments. Thanks to the undying efforts of Jason Kim and his
close friend Richard Watt, the team is now one of the top in the
league, its members placing at the U.S. Nationals and Collegiate
Nationals each year. Jason stated that the discipline he received
while studying under Grand Master Kim as well as the love for Taekwondo
he learned was the driving force behind his efforts to establish
a successful program at West Point.
Jason graduated in May of 2003 from West
Point with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Information Systems
Engineering as well as a 2nd Lieutenant Commission in the U.S. Army.
Jason currently serves as a Military Police Platoon Leader at Camp
Casey, Republic of Korea. Keeping up with his Taekwondo training,
Jason trains with the 2nd Infantry Division's Taekwondo Team as
well as with OMS students when home on leave, sharing his knowledge.
“I owe most, if not all of my fortunate successes to two things:
My parents and their undying support, and Grand Master Kim and his
training, wisdom, and guidance.”
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